The best gift to give to my Mother or Mother-in-Law is time spent with them. I usually try to personalize it and add a touch of our presence. For example for this past Mother's Day my husband and I took both mothers out on Mother's Day for dinner so they wouldn't have to cook.
In the past I've also taken my Mother-in-Law out to tea - as she's British and we know that's something she enjoys - for no special occasion other than to spend quality time with her. I've also put a lot of photo albums full of 1 year's worth of photos for her, in chronological order. I personalized by finding a nice photo frame that had writings of "Nanna" - as this is what she is known to all her grandchildren. She loves personal gifts.
For my own mother I knew she wanted - more than needed - a new purse. So originally I surprised her by picking a Coach bag... although not to my surprise she didn't like it. So I returned it and took her to a Coach shop with me and she got to choose one she liked. As children, we usually look to see if there's something around the house that may need updating. Or if there's a trip my parents are planning on going, we'll contribute money towards their trip to help out with expenses. We also know she likes to be pampered so we've gotten her gift certificates at spas for massages and facials. My next surprise for my folks is to take them to an overnight out of town trip to a very relaxing B&B. I've already got the gift card, and just need to let them choose the weekend... Hopefully it'll work with our schedule! I think it's best to personally take her there and enjoy time spent so you both get to enjoy!
I think even if you get gift cards, you can make it more personalize by getting it from one of her favorite stores or restaurants. Nowadays I think the parents enjoy time and your company more than the materialistic stuff, after all they usually have everything they need!
A great gift to me includes time spent together. It doesn't have to cost anything like simple help in the yard or it could be a day or weekend trip somewhere.
I always used to agonize over what gift to give my wife. She never really liked the clothes or jewelry I bought her. One day she said to just give her a card with money in it. This way, she can buy what she really wants and I don't have to spend a lot of time trying to find the "right" gift for her.
Yes, I know it's not romantic, but it's practical and works for us. We've been together for 13 years.
Excellent point! The items on this list will provide the greatest health benefits when added to a balanced diet and not used as one's exclusive source of protein (unless, as you point out, it's a complete protein--but even then, these should be eaten along with other sources such as beans and other vegetables).
There currently aren't studies done on which has higher protein content, but I listed organic meats in the above article because of the health benefits over corn-fed, hormones-enhanced livestock.
My purpose was to list protein-rich food sources that were also the healthiest in their respective categories. For more information on the numerous benefits of organic meat, I recommend reading this page from Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu/greening/organic4.htm
Last birthday my significant other gave me a bread stone for baking bread and pizza. He even remembered the brand and model I wanted. I like useful gifts. I've used this gift every week since I received it! It is possibly the best gift I've ever received since it enables me to further enjoy one of my hobbies and saves me money from buying takeout pizza.
My favorite gifts for other women are very luxurious, but small purchases, like an expensive hand cream or soap or stationery item. I love when people buy things for me that I wouldn't splurge on for myself.
Here are the gifts that women appear to appreciate most:
Flowers, Chocolate, a gift trip to a Spa, a Romantic weekend getaway, a nice Dinner out, a boyfriend, husband or significant other who regularly vacuums the house, cleans the bathrooms and makes the dinner at least a couple of times a week.
The secret is to do some or all of this without being nagged to do it. Just do it.
I see the "present bias" in myself all the time. I tend to go to sleep way too late because I know the next thing coming up is heading off to work. So even though the best way to get more sleep is to go to bed earlier, I don't.
Great post!! The easiest way to ride out the bumps is to tune out the media. They make everything seem worse off than it truly is. Just look at the market since the collapse in 2008 as example. If you listened to the media, you'd think the stock market would still be stinking up the joint. But in reality, it's been up every year since. The sad part is that many investors are still on the sidelines waiting to get back in.
I would second the "thought and effort" criteria that have been mentioned already. The most amazing gift that I ever received from my husband was a necklace and matching earrings that he gave me for my birthday and Christmas.
They were amazing gifts because on our first date, he noticed that when he mentioned that he had a gun, it made me uncomfortable (I didn't say anything about it, he could just see that I was uncomfortable with it). So he sold the gun and used the money to buy the jewelry for me. I'm not a huge fan of jewelry in general, but that jewelry is special to me.
A weekend at a Bed and Breakfast . . . . . . A great gift for the woman in your life is to slow down, get away from the fast pace life we all seem to lead anymore.
The best gift to give to my Mother or Mother-in-Law is time spent with them. I usually try to personalize it and add a touch of our presence. For example for this past Mother's Day my husband and I took both mothers out on Mother's Day for dinner so they wouldn't have to cook.
In the past I've also taken my Mother-in-Law out to tea - as she's British and we know that's something she enjoys - for no special occasion other than to spend quality time with her. I've also put a lot of photo albums full of 1 year's worth of photos for her, in chronological order. I personalized by finding a nice photo frame that had writings of "Nanna" - as this is what she is known to all her grandchildren. She loves personal gifts.
For my own mother I knew she wanted - more than needed - a new purse. So originally I surprised her by picking a Coach bag... although not to my surprise she didn't like it. So I returned it and took her to a Coach shop with me and she got to choose one she liked. As children, we usually look to see if there's something around the house that may need updating. Or if there's a trip my parents are planning on going, we'll contribute money towards their trip to help out with expenses. We also know she likes to be pampered so we've gotten her gift certificates at spas for massages and facials. My next surprise for my folks is to take them to an overnight out of town trip to a very relaxing B&B. I've already got the gift card, and just need to let them choose the weekend... Hopefully it'll work with our schedule! I think it's best to personally take her there and enjoy time spent so you both get to enjoy!
I think even if you get gift cards, you can make it more personalize by getting it from one of her favorite stores or restaurants. Nowadays I think the parents enjoy time and your company more than the materialistic stuff, after all they usually have everything they need!
I like practical gifts--gift cards for my favorite places like Target, Costco. Nothing exciting or fancy, but I love them.
A great gift to me includes time spent together. It doesn't have to cost anything like simple help in the yard or it could be a day or weekend trip somewhere.
I always used to agonize over what gift to give my wife. She never really liked the clothes or jewelry I bought her. One day she said to just give her a card with money in it. This way, she can buy what she really wants and I don't have to spend a lot of time trying to find the "right" gift for her.
Yes, I know it's not romantic, but it's practical and works for us. We've been together for 13 years.
Excellent point! The items on this list will provide the greatest health benefits when added to a balanced diet and not used as one's exclusive source of protein (unless, as you point out, it's a complete protein--but even then, these should be eaten along with other sources such as beans and other vegetables).
anything to do with massages, the spa/facials, or a day off cooking =)
There currently aren't studies done on which has higher protein content, but I listed organic meats in the above article because of the health benefits over corn-fed, hormones-enhanced livestock.
My purpose was to list protein-rich food sources that were also the healthiest in their respective categories. For more information on the numerous benefits of organic meat, I recommend reading this page from Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu/greening/organic4.htm
Last birthday my significant other gave me a bread stone for baking bread and pizza. He even remembered the brand and model I wanted. I like useful gifts. I've used this gift every week since I received it! It is possibly the best gift I've ever received since it enables me to further enjoy one of my hobbies and saves me money from buying takeout pizza.
depends on the woman - but something significant and personal
You save the empty plastic bags from diapers, toilet paper bundles, feminine products, and produce to use as wastebasket liners!
Candles, Bath and Body works, flowers, gc to places they like, something extra nice for the home, a day off, etc.
They might have been joking. :P
My favorite gifts for other women are very luxurious, but small purchases, like an expensive hand cream or soap or stationery item. I love when people buy things for me that I wouldn't splurge on for myself.
Here are the gifts that women appear to appreciate most:
Flowers, Chocolate, a gift trip to a Spa, a Romantic weekend getaway, a nice Dinner out, a boyfriend, husband or significant other who regularly vacuums the house, cleans the bathrooms and makes the dinner at least a couple of times a week.
The secret is to do some or all of this without being nagged to do it. Just do it.
Great article, Emily! Welcome to Wise Bread.
I see the "present bias" in myself all the time. I tend to go to sleep way too late because I know the next thing coming up is heading off to work. So even though the best way to get more sleep is to go to bed earlier, I don't.
SO glad you switched to Rafflecopter! Best gifts for women are things that she wouldn't buy for herself but pamper her.
An apron
gift cards
The best gift would be one in which you took the time to think of her interests and custom-made or bought it with specifically her in mind.
Great post!! The easiest way to ride out the bumps is to tune out the media. They make everything seem worse off than it truly is. Just look at the market since the collapse in 2008 as example. If you listened to the media, you'd think the stock market would still be stinking up the joint. But in reality, it's been up every year since. The sad part is that many investors are still on the sidelines waiting to get back in.
Women love gifts where they feel pampered. So perfume, jewelry, spa day, chocolate, and a good book.
I would second the "thought and effort" criteria that have been mentioned already. The most amazing gift that I ever received from my husband was a necklace and matching earrings that he gave me for my birthday and Christmas.
They were amazing gifts because on our first date, he noticed that when he mentioned that he had a gun, it made me uncomfortable (I didn't say anything about it, he could just see that I was uncomfortable with it). So he sold the gun and used the money to buy the jewelry for me. I'm not a huge fan of jewelry in general, but that jewelry is special to me.
A weekend at a Bed and Breakfast . . . . . . A great gift for the woman in your life is to slow down, get away from the fast pace life we all seem to lead anymore.
My team just put together a formal rebuttal to this article on our blog. Defending self-storage with facts! - http://bit.ly/SPKsYd
Happy Birthday, Christie! My birthday today also!